Quotes: Yolanda

I was scrolling through my reference files, in search of a pose (which I didn't find) and came across this picture of Marion Davies in the 1924 film Yolanda.

That, thought I, is a fabulous hat. 

So I decided to use it as a basis for a sketch, and see if I couldn't make it look a bit more dramatic (which I know is something I need to work on).

I was halfway through when I decided to look up the book that the film was based on (Yolanda; Maid of Burgundy by Charles Major, 1905) and see what the actual scene was. 

It was at this point that I realised that a) the girl should technically be kneeling on the ground and b) it would have been more dramatic if I'd done the scene immediately before, when it was our handsome hero on the ground, instead of the villain, and Yolanda casting herself over him to protect him from a blow from a battle-axe (ah, the joys of turn-of-the-century novels with no regard for historical correctness and no compunction at being cheesy! =P

Since I wasn't too happy with how dramatic I made this, I sketched over it in Photoshop in intervals throughout today, and ended up with this:

A bit better, I think.

By the by, it's perfectly acceptable for everyone in the novel to be seized with that amazing blood-lust, as the man on the ground cheated in battle by getting someone off to shoot his opponent. =P 

I hope you can read my writing at this size; if not, and you're curious as to the quote, let me know and I'll add it to this post.